Page:The Atlantic Monthly Volume 2.djvu/660

 trains of the same class it may meet, thus pursuing its hazardous and uncertain progress during the entire trip."

The following table shows the rate and direction of subordination for a first-class railroad:— General Superintendent.

Superintendent Roadmaster. Section men. of road. Roadmaster. Section men. Roadmaster. Section men.

Foreman of machine-shop. Machinists. Foreman of blacksmith's shop Blacksmiths. Superintendent Foreman of carpenter's shop. Carpenters. of Machinery. Foreman of paint-shop       Painters. Engineers (not on trains). Firemen. Car-masters. Oilers and cleaners. Brakemen.

Conductors. Engineers (on trains). Ticket-collectors. General passenger-agent. Mail agents. Station agents. Hackmen. Switchmen. Express agents. Police. Conductors. Brakemen. Engineers (on trains).

General freight-agent. Station agents. Weighers and gaugers. Yard masters.

Supply agent. Clerks and teamsters furnishing supplies. Fuel agent. All men employed about wood-sheds. All subordinates should be accountable to and directed by their immediate superiors only. Each officer must have authority, with the approval of the general superintendent, to appoint all employees for whose acts he is responsible, and to dismiss any one, when, in his judgment, the interests of the company demand it.

Fast travelling is one of the most dangerous as well as one of the most expensive luxuries connected with the railroad system. Few companies in America have any idea what their express-trains cost them. Indeed, the proper means of obtaining quick transport are not at all understood. It is not by forcing the train at an excessively high speed, but by reducing the number of stops. A train running four hundred miles, and stopping once in fifty minutes,—each stop, including coming to rest and starting, being five minutes,—to pass over the whole distance in eight hours, must run fifty-five miles per hour; stopping once in twenty minutes, sixty-three miles per hour; and stopping once in ten minutes, eighty-six miles per hour.

The proportions in which the working expenses are distributed under the several heads are nearly as follows:—

Management        7 Road-repairs     16 Locomotives      35 Cars             38 Sundries          4 ____ In all           100

And the percentage of increase due to fast travelling, to be applied to the several items of expense, with the resulting increase in total expense, this:—

Management       7  increased by     0  per cent. is 0.0 Road-repairs    16        do. 27      do. 4.3 Locomotives      35        do. 30      do. 10.5 Cars             38        do. 10      do. 3.8 Sundries          4        do. 0      do. 0.0                 ____                                   ____                  100         And the whole increase     18.6